Congratulations to Lilli Hanik of Fisherville, Liz Walker of Mount Eden, and Courtney Jeffiers of Taylorsville for receiving the 4-H Middle School Award at 4-H Teen Summit on Saturday, March 17th at the Kentucky Leadership Center in Jabez.

I am only now recovering — it has been four days since Andy and I planted out 100 asparagus crowns. Planting asparagus is an investment on all accounts — time, labor, money, patience — and then the big payoff, which is fresh asparagus for two months each spring right from your own garden.

Without looking at the calendar, Kentuckians might easily be fooled into thinking it is early June; but in fact, spring has just begun. After the warmest winter on the record books in the Bluegrass state, spring has sprung very early causing some University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension specialists to gaze eerily back on a similar weather pattern in 2007.

It’s time to start it all over again, thank goodness. I had to buy some potatoes from the grocery a few weeks back because we had finally finished all that were stored in the basement. Homegrown potatoes, even the old ones in their slightly shriveled state, are far superior to the kind that come in a plastic bag. I am really ready to get my hands in the soil, and planting potatoes is just the thing to get the season rolling.

In response to requests from school districts across the country, the USDA recently announced that it will offer more choices to schools in the National School Lunch Program when it comes to purchases of ground beef products.

Members of the National Winning Spencer County FFA Dairy team pose for a picture with the 2012 Dodge truck to be given away May 15. Raffle tickets can be purchased from any FFA member for $5. Proceeds will help the dairy team to participate in the International Contest in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 20. Team members are Susan Mann, Joseph Snider, Austin Jaggers and Tevin Shouse.

Registration is underway for the Spencer County Cooperative Extension Service’s 2012 Sharing Ourselves — SOS — classes.
For additional information about the courses offered, registration fees and dates, visit http://ces.ca.uky.edu/spencer.
Class offerings address numerous subjects, including gardening, crafts, children’s activities, tractor driving safety and more.
Some classes are already full and registration will not be considered complete until the registration fee has been paid.

I think I have finally figured out the perfect machine for controlling those pesky spring weeds — sheep. Well, I know it is not for everyone (and I know it cannot last much longer for me) but our pregnant herd of Katahdin ewes are let loose from their pasture in the afternoon to graze freely within the secure fencing of the entire property for a few hours.